“He did not like repetitions or rehearsals. Everything was born spontaneously, without deep efforts, from the heart. Here, he screamed, laughed, and cried…” - Garry Kuntsev, “There Was No One with Parajanov.”

Armenian film director, screenwriter, and People’s Artist of the ASSR and the USSR, Sergei Parajanov, left a great legacy in world cinema with the films “Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors,” “The Color of Pomegranates,” “Hakob Ovnatanyan,” “Arabesques on the Theme of Pirosmani,” “The Legend of the Surami Fortress,” and “Ashik Kerib.” Today is his birthday, January 9. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of the great director. The National Library of Armenia will celebrate this anniversary with solemn events.

The 100th anniversaries of Sergei Parajanov and Charles Aznavour are included in the UNESCO program “Anniversaries of Famous People and Important Events 2024-2025.” Sound director of the films “The Legend of the Surami Fortress,” “Ashik Kerib,” and “Confession” (unfinished), Harry Kuntsev, in his book “Nobody Was with Parajanov,” shares unique memories of the great director of Armenian origin.

“In his happy childhood, the apocalypse and the circus were mixed. Later, the young artist was joined by a longing for beautiful faces, wonderful wide-brimmed hats, and amazing myths.” And then… he finally found the sphere where he could create all this with his own hands.

Cinema is a place for everyone: musicians, dancers, poets, and where a happy child could become the master of the situation. He suddenly looked at life from the other side of the virgin screen, on which he intended to place everything: the sharp pain from the hot oil against the backdrop of Ararat, the wonderful face of a young man walled up alive in the wall of a fortress, the shadows of unforgettable ancestors, and the colors of Pirosmani, also bearded, unwashed, and homeless, an artist who walked the same paths that the happy child director ran through life…" writes Kuntsev in his memorial book. Kuntsev is the author of about 100 photographs of the great Armenian film director. According to Ukrainian cameraman Yuriy Garmash, Parajanov is a diamond of Armenia, Ukraine, and Georgia.